


Goodbye Hello

by Perry_Downing



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Reylo if you squint, Saying goodbye to furry friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 17:58:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12537876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perry_Downing/pseuds/Perry_Downing
Summary: My dear friend MissHarper lost her beloved dog last weekend and I wanted to honor her beautiful Oscar.Rey remembers a bright time in her life on Jakku when she found a sand wolf pup and finds a new little friend on Ahch-To. Hint of Reylo.





	Goodbye Hello

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MissHarper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissHarper/gifts).



Rey looks out on the unusually calm sea and, for the first time, she misses the dunes of Jakku. It had been a hard life, but it had always made sense. The rules were harsh, but she understood them.  
  
She'd thought the legendary Luke Skywalker would have had the answers to the storm of confusion her life has become. But she's only filled with more questions. She’d hoped that after a lifetime of waiting, she’d finally found her place.  
  
Rey wonders when she had last been truly happy and she realizes it was so many years ago.

  
She'd been 12. She'd only just claimed her AT-AT when she'd found a starving sand wolf pup. He'd fit in the palm of her hand, and his light fur had been so soft. She remembers how she would fall asleep with him on her pillow, his warm little body pressed close to her cheek.  
  
At first it had been hard to find him when he'd get away from her. He was the same color as the endless wastes that dictated her life. But he’d always yelp for her and she’d find him wagging his tail happily.

  
It had been hard to scavenge for two. She had known it was a stupid decision to keep him, but she'd managed. She'd even learned to set traps for the vollers that pestered the cantina. The proprietor let her keep them for Oskur in return for a pest-free larder. That's what she'd named her small friend.  
  
But he'd not stayed small. The sand wolf was up to her hip by the time she'd marked half a turn around Jakku's sun.  
  
Then ... Oskur had left for increasingly long periods. At first it had hurt. He didn't come back for his vollers but she still saw him slinking about. She’d accepted that everyone leaves her, everyone rejects her. Tears she couldn’t afford had fallen without her permission. 

She should have remembered that lesson when she’d trudged up the steps of Ahch-To.  
  
But that’s not really fair. Oskur hadn’t left her, not precisely. One night, he'd whined at her door and she'd been startled to find another sand wolf with him. She'd grabbed her staff immediately, but something had kept her from threatening the unknown animal.  
  
Oskur had nosed her staff away and looked into her with those soulful, knowing eyes. It was then she realized that the interloper was female.  
  
Her friend had nuzzled into his companion and Rey had understood that she was his mate. Her friend hadn’t abandoned her, he’d just grown up. Tentatively, she'd reached out her open palm and the newcomer had cautiously sniffed her fingers. Rey took to calling her Lyra.  
  
Rey smiles as she remembers Oskur bringing his pups to meet her. She’d rolled around in the sand, covered with small furry bodies, laughing as they’d licked her face.  
  
She sighs as she watches the sun dip below the horizon. For months after meeting her friend's mate she'd wondered if she'd ever find her own. Was there someone out there for her?  
  
Angrily, she kicks a pile of stones Luke had made her stack. Stupid thoughts. She'd never felt anything like the connection she'd seen between Oskur and Lyra. She pushes away the knowledge that she’s lying to herself. Dark eyes beckon to her from a place inside she refuses to examine.  
  
She'd happily give up dreams of strong arms if she could just rub Oskur's belly again.  
  
\---  
  
Walking back to her hut, trying to keep from being pulled into that place of despair she knows will kill her, she stops when she hears a mournful little sound. She turns her head back and forth, trying to determine where the sound came from.

 

Then she hears it again and it’s coming from an outcropping of trees. There’s just enough light yet to see, so she walks over to investigate.

 

Under a shrub she finds the smallest ball of fuzz. It cries out again and she doesn’t think before scooping it up into her hands. She holds the little creature close to her face and eyes far too large for its face blink at her.

 

It’s a baby porg, she realizes. She can’t tell if it’s a girl or boy, she doesn’t know anything about porgs, really. Again it makes that sad little cry and it opens and closes its mouth.

 

“Oh, you must be hungry! Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” She thinks porgs must eat fish. There’s not really anything else to eat around here.

 

Rey tucks her new friend into her pocket and it makes a sound of contentment. Maybe it was cold, too.

 

She peers under all the shrubs and behind the nearby rocks, but can’t find the mother. Looking down at her small companion she says, “Have you been abandoned, too?”

 

The porg coos and puffs up a bit. “Come on then, time to feed you.”

 

Making her way back to her hut, she keeps her hand in her pocket, stroking the downy feathers. By the time she reaches her likely temporary home, she’s decided the porg’s name is Jot.

 

\---

 

She spoons a mash of fish and water into Jot’s tiny mouth and the baby porg gulps it down greedily. “Hey, hey, not so fast. You’ll get sick.”

 

Jot trills a happy sound and Rey smiles.

 

She falls asleep with Jot on her pillow.

 

When she wakes, she finds Jot’s round eyes peering at her and Rey feels just a little less alone.

 

**Author's Note:**

> MissHarper, I am so incredibly sorry that you lost your dear Oscar. He was a beautiful boy and I know your heart is broken. I love you.


End file.
